Wednesday, June 12, 2013

It is almost a month since my last posting. It is a bit hard to explain why I have not written as much as I did in the past. There are no major changes in my life except that I'm getting older. Since I started blogging in 2005, the Internet has enabled Singaporeans to have deeper understanding of the system they live in. It allowed the underlying causes of problems faced by Singaporeans to be discussed objectively and trade-offs in govt polices to be seen with greater clarity. This deeper understanding does not help the PAP to maintain its dominant position.

Despite having the whole mainstream media on its side, the PAP has struggled to explain the benefits of the system it has in place and convince the people that old policies and schemes should remain as they are. The less democratic aspects of the system of govt is becoming less justifiable and less acceptable to Singaporeans. Even as the aspirations for progress and change builds up, the PAP wants to maintain its dominance making as few changes as possible. To do so, it has to control the Singaporeans' access to information. The PAP wants control and influence over the online news media that has increased in popularity in the last few years. The new MDA regulations gives the PAP govt broad powers to do this.

Under the code, prohibited content includes "material that is objectionable
on the grounds of public interest, public morality, public order, public
security, national harmony, or is otherwise prohibited by applicable Singapore
laws."The MDA on Tuesday said websites that have at least 50,000 unique visitors
from Singapore every month and publish at least one local news article per week
over a period of two months must obtain an annual licence.The MDA said the licence guidelines will "apply to all content on the news
sites, including readers' comments on the news sites".

The maximum penalty for illegal broadcasting under the Broadcasting Act is a fine of $200,000 or three years' jail or both. But for sites that are licensed, failing to comply with conditions could result either in financial penalties or the licence being suspended or revoked.[Link]

What worries me is not just the use of harsh laws to limit the freedom of Singaporeans and disable them from effecting change but what the PAP govt can does under a cloak of secrecy due to absence of laws protecting the privacy and freedom of Singaporeans.

Singapore has a weak legal regime to protect privacy and has deployed extensive surveillance systems.[Link]

You may have missed the news 2 days ago about a US NSA (America's agency that does surveillance) technician leaking information about the NSA's PRISM system that allows the US govt to access all servers of major US infocomm companies including Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Yahoo! etc giving the US govt the technical capability to spy on its own citizens. PRISM gives the US govt access to all emails, VoIP, files and messages of Internet users.

"The government has granted itself power it is not entitled to. There is no public oversight. The result is people like myself have the latitude to go further than they are allowed to" , Whistle-blower Edward Snowden[Link]

While the technical capability exists to spy on its citizens, the NSA is bounded by American privacy laws that limits its surveillance activity to "any customers of participating corporations who live outside the United States, or American citizens whose communications include web content of people outside the United States."[Link].

According to the Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, PRISM cannot be used to intentionally target any Americans or anyone in the United States. [Link].

Unfortunately the laws protecting Singaporeans from such surveillance is weak and there agencies such as the CSIT (Centre for Strategic Infocomm Technologies) that operate in secrecy and are known to be involved in surveillance activities from the type of equipment it procures. Without a strong regulatory and legal framework in place, there is a big risk that the interests of Singaporeans will be compromised.

Singapore, where
authorities keep a close eye on opposition groups and political commentary, some
people use encryption programs to avoid surveillance.

"If you are
concerned about electronic eavesdropping, you can use pidgin IM - it has an
encryption module for instant messaging," said Donaldson Tan, editor of
socio-political website New Asia Republic.

"There is also Tor client for
online anonymity," he said, referring to two popular free software programs
developed by volunteer programmers to guard against network
surveillance.

Asked if he was concerned whether the U.S. government would
share surveillance information with Singapore authorities, given the friendly
ties between the two countries, Tan said: "The U.S. is really hard to
read".

A Singapore government spokesman did not immediately respond to
requests for comment.

Several people in the
region said the reports of government access to e-mails and phone calls were not
surprising.

"This latest revelation, if true, is really no more than
putting proof to suspicion," said Howard Lee, a blogger who often writes about
political and social issues in Singapore.

"As citizens of democracies,
our response should not be fear, but a concerted voice to demand accountability
and transparency. I believe this is the current aim of civil society groups in
Singapore."[Link]

The existence of secret organisations operating in the absence of regulation that protects the privacy of Singaporeans from surveillance by the state creates fear among those who legitimately oppose the govt because they hold a different point of view. There is no reason to govern Singapore with such repressive measures that does not exist anywhere else in the developed world except to maintain dominance at a time when there is a growing desire for change.

716 comments:

I have been following your blog since some years back. The main attraction of your writing is the high standard of research and deliberation that you have put into your works.

I have personally (many other readers too) benefited quite a bid from your generosity in sharing your knowledge with us.

Yes, your rate of writing has slowed down quite a bit and I have been wondering the reasons behind it. Thank you for telling us that you are getting old .... all of us do...It certainly takes quite a lot of efforts to come out with your standard of writing ...

I ｗｉｌｌ ｎｏｗ ｔｒｅａｓｕｒｅ ｙｏｕｒ work more and will read each and every piece of your work with gratitude.

Age is catching up. One day, you will loose the most basic bodily function to time . While you still can, kiss those pair of worn out jogging shoes. I have bought several new pairs. Such simple pleasures(of owning)and enjoyment will one day be meaningless.

Hey Lucky Tan, I think that's why the govt want a One Inbox to spy us with ease. For those who don"t want to be spied, TOR plus encryption of all info online is the way to go. But D38F02CE48291 will make you become a target of interest. lol

Remember the saying " they have begun to believe their own press" ? I just realized how apt it is when applied to the PAP. It is their press. I believe they look to it for justification and affirmation. No, I am not bashing the PAP. There are enough people to do that. But I am realizing how easy it is for us to do the same. When you are successful and on top many people will come round to flatter you. That's your press.

I have always maintained a belief that this coverment has access or can monitor all my activities since my birth and live a life that give it no legitimate reason to pull me up for a cup of tea or coffee.

Very monastery many will say. Maybe, but I sleep well knowing that only gangsters will give me a hard time.Incidentally, I am not religious which will make my enemies wonder more, no ?

•It was revealed that servers of Internet companies like Facebook, Yahoo, Google and Microsoft were tapped directly by the National Security Agency (NSA). Did these companies willingly give access to the NSA?

•How would anyone know that industrial espionage has not been committed by the US and its allies?

•How sure is Singapore that its national secrets are secure, given the prevalent use of Microsoft products? Is there an alternative to using these products?

Freedom is a myth. The day you are born into this world, you are given a number - a number for this slave society. It will take a lot of blood to change that. Thus, just accept that and carry on living.

Do not ever vote for a party that is competent cos that party is also competent in screwing you. All gov in this world is the same - their aim is to make themselves better off and the general public worse off.

There is no reason to govern Singapore with such repressive measures that does not exist anywhere else in the developed world except to maintain dominance at a time when there is a growing desire for change.

Well said. Really appreciate and admire the thorough analysis and effort that you put into writing every article. There is currently no other bloggers in sgp who can write such thoughtful articles. Your passion to improve sgp's society for the better comes through in your writing. I hope age, the continued repressive climate and apathy of the majority have not dulled your passion. Pls continue your good work otherwise it will be a great loss to those of us who care.

The latest invention by the TCs and proudly presented by the $2 MP is the new app to provide feedback. What people don't realise is that their contact details are also tracked based on their pattern of compliants and feedback

Just for real world, the relevant authority (MCI/ MDA/ IDA/ ...) already not monitoring/ fighting all the way against bad people (from fake/ unethical/ unlicensed spammer/ scammer/ advertiser to misuse/ unauthorized/ hacking/ cramming/ fraud/ ...) to protect the common people.

It is really amazing that the government has extra time/ effort/ resource/ priority to impose additional law (monetized license over 'rich' website) on the local internet community.

From the point of view of an ordinary citizen, it is deeply worrying that Mr Obama, a political leader elected on the pledges of openness and transparency, has not only sanctioned this policy but also defended it. In a general sense it strengthens the distrust about the political system – politicians doing the opposite of their campaign promises.In a more specific sense, it adds fuel to the concern that if this President and his administration could do this, what else could a future President and administration do? Can we really trust our politicians? The frightening answer is, apparently, that we cannot be sure.

If the licensing can be effectively enforced, free prints like today paper and wobao could be taken off. I believed they saw the ibternet informationn revoloution coming and mass issue the papers freely despite its cost to Sph just to keep readers off from online political discussions. it is their last resort as this move confirm the pursuit of partiality n biasedness by them is real

When u encourage arts u encourage new ways of looking at things, which in turn affect the outlook, due to the artistry of the artists and of the products of the countries like Italy, France and Denmark, the countries associate with high style and beautification of buildings and high standard of design and things, which started from Marco Polo learning from China and started a renaisance in europe?

You have a really great site! I love how useful a lot of your topics are. I was wondering if you would consider mentioning my website on your next post? I’ll be sure to mention yours on my blog in return. Thanks!

THAT JOB MAY SAVE YOUR LIFEMy own reading of all of these studies is that there is at least strongly suggestive evidence that not working, in and of itself, can be harmful to your health. And this raises the question of what it means for the puzzling finding that overall life expectancy appears to rise, not fall, during recessions.

Is the coalitions of govt causes the success of Nordic,Swiss & New Zealand with well educated constributed diversity of ideas and diversity of risks? Which contribute to the success of develop of each individual in the countries?

Singapore purchased PROMIS software - developed about a decade ago, to gather big data intel on ppl. The software has a backdoor. Check PROMIS on google, lots of countries have it as well as major banks and corporations. intially developed bu Mr Hamilton.

It seems to me you are concern about something. I'm not surprise if they are BEGINNING to indulge in such technologies, especially so when Mas Selamat ran away limping. Wire-tapping was already there when Said Zahari wrote that his home was wire-tapped.

There will be massive number of people dumping their properties(as the population grey) and they keep building new ones to dilute the resale market. You should be concern of a potential financial time bomb imploding soon.

McPeekay TomcatBanking (operator license) is a lucrative business. If banks are allowed to open & operate in Singapore then they should follow our rules & we should not be held at ransom & 'let them fill many/most jobs with their own countrymen'. Walk the talk & insists suitably qualified locals fill the posts instead. The banking license is too lucrative for them to disregard. Or are/is our authority (ies) unwilling to practice 'Singaporeans First' policy?

Singaporean first is no different from bumiputra biased policies. The Singaporean breed is mostly Bohliao breed - like a certain race. Here ...people got money(mostly rich from assets), no soul nor heart( charities for show doesn't count)

Like that. .. government people how to afford living like Kings and princes..hhaaahhaaa/////

Why decades ago during the 70's-80's can, now cannot ??? Ask those uncle/aunties, what's the difference between living in the early years than now. The answer is : during the earlier years, we has smart and productive people, including the leaders. But now we've idiotic daft, incompetent complacent goondus blokes, foreign trash and leaders.

PS - The Gen-Y of today including the leaders, are blind. So to speak, the blind leading the blind, bloke !!!

Hope that Singapore are prepare for the type of SARS that causes serious damage to Hong Kong because of overcrowding and overpopulation left many staying in cages, 100K still waiting for the rental flats.

At that time, fortunately they govt intervene to buy many stocks to push up the market if not Hong Kong will be in serious trouble and during the serious recession, ask the China govt to let its people to tour Hong Kong to push up the economy?

In future Singapore got to cope with many well educated but difficult to find a suitable jobs when they grow older, nothing wrong with mastering a trade, in fact quite a few earlier with little qualification own five room flat and cars?

The cow must be thinking that his latest property cooling measures has dampened speculative purchases(sort of) except that it is not effective against rich parents who can substantially reduce the loan amount or even pay off the property for their kids. A wealthy family of 5 children can potentially build up a portfolio 6 properties under their family name.

There are enough rich parents in sg to destabilise the property market, or political demography, through over investment

"The net result is this: Autocracy is less sustainable than ever. Democracies are more prevalent than ever — but they will also be more volatile than ever. Look for more people in the streets more often over more issues with more independent means to tell their stories at ever-louder decibels."

If your system cannot be duplicated in the globalized world, it cannot be depended on to sustain life and peace in the long term.

Keep writing; don't give up so easily. You don't know how much impact you are creating with your writings. Years later, you will see the incremental changes but you got to believe that you are making a difference.

Frankly, as I age, I don't trust the government to lead Singapore anymore. You may call it cynicism but I think I'm living in a communist country. You're not allowed to say what you think in Singapore. That's communism. If that's not communism, what is? Everyday, I grow to hate this place because its people have become cold, calculating, unforgiving and to some extent kiasu and cut throat. And it hurts to bring a child in such a souless environment. Singapore is not a strict country. It's authoritarian to the extent it limits liberties. The singapore government doesn't even take care of its citizens. The CPF is a case in point. The government has turned a deaf ear and is not reforming it; knowing they have escaleted the commercialising of PUBLIC housing and profitted from it with its stamp duties, etc.. Young Singaporeans are struggling just to keep up with a 4-room HDB flat. Jobs that pay one to own a roof over your head is scarce. Singaporeans are under pressure. They are now the world's least positive people because they know they are living on a tight rope. They are walking on a tight rope each day, with their hdb flat might disappear and they drop into bankruptcy any time because they lost their jobs, retrenched and they can't pay their hdb monthly installments for loans that stretch a lifetime. This given that all one's life savings is wiped out the minute one pay for a hdb shelter in this country. What kind of life is this? How can a government tell its people that a 30 year loan is affordable? Singaporeans are living a stressful life and they are to blame for it. Not the government. As they keep pandering to the PAP's bullying behaviour to offer them such a life circumstance. It is not the business of a government ot make life harder than it has to be for its people. This situation in this country has created many greedy and materialistic people. They are many angry singaporeans on the streets today appalled by bullshit policies.

An article which said Singapore worker is not skillful enoughm, compare to Germany, Japan & Swiss,I tend to agreed.

Not enough media encouragement of the skills? Singapore skills works had reached it height in the 80s and 90s later tapered off? The perception it is a dirty job? In highly developed country, their skilled workfore is not so pressure and do such quick turnaround like Singapore, which rely on less educated foreigners?

Less children been born, skills job had an image problems, whereas in Germany, Switzerland and Japan it was highly respect and well paid, which many of these skills workers spearhead the innovations which drive the economy?

Low pay and competitions from foreign workers, quite a few grow old became cleaners, which are the less educated skill worker?

Since Singapore recognised it had a problem, massive incentive needed to develop the skills or trade workfore in term of incentives, training, education and innovations?

"We should realize that hard work and perseverance are not enough to achieve in life. Luck plays a big part too. Some people are unfortunate to beam born into a system that is against them right from the start. Some are struck by a string of bad luck and unable to get out of the rut they are in, which are not their doings."

" Society needs to be empathetic and gives these people a helping hand. It also needs to be forgiving and gives people a second chance. "

I agree with the observation but not the solution. It is not realistic. Try again.

Wtf is the garbagemen thinking when they plant an up market shopping center (JEM ) in the heartland? You have kids, uncles, aunties and what have you. ..who usually can't afford the time nor money to spend in premium shopping belt now crowd JEM .. enjoying aircon and molesting expensive products.

Soon, this crowd will drive away upper class folks who can spend but rather return to their usual haunt down town.. many businesses will fail

What good come out of commercializing the nation who generally don't have the spending power but can only molest and drool over up market products and services?

haven for shop lifting and wasting time in the mall... real turn off for serious shoppers to see these cheapos loiterers ... too many filthy hands touching things. . Stupid to pay good money for boogers on your purchases. .haha

Egypt's angel of death sweeping into the land has gotten the attention of the political world.

Can the old wine skin hold up to its bargain or is it giving way to the new wine skin?

Err, what have we been saying all this time?

Yeo's good friend, Eric, waxed lyrical of another masquerade stronghold.

Mr Big Gun said: "It starts with politics because if your politics is wrong, then your economics is bound to go wrong. And the reason why so many countries cannot get the economies right is because if the politics don't work, the benefits don't get spread to the right people or broadly enough, or there are vested interests which have to be taken care of, or there's some divide in the society which cannot be bridged, and you spend your time fighting over that, rather than working together productively.

Transparency international will rather be blunt."Political parties are considered the most corrupt institutions in the world, followed by police, the judiciary, congress or parliament and the appointed public officials that serve them. Or, rather, that serve private interests."

One of our minister can also be blunt"Politics is a contest for power but the key principle when you have power is, don’t take advantage of people under your charge, and always be honest and upfront with them."

THE Catholic Church has vowed to "do all within its power" to investigate any claims of sexual abuse in the clergy after a Singapore-born female author claimed she was abused by two priests as a teenager.

"The church is deeply concerned with any report of alleged sexual misconduct by its clerics, staff and those who volunteer their services in the church," said the Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore in a statement posted on its website yesterday.

It promised to use the "laws of the land and of the church" to see that justice is served and also said it "will not hesitate to take all measures to protect the integrity of the institution against those who seek to discredit the church and its family".

Corporations have been enthroned, and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working on the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands, and the republic is destroyed.

I just like the valuable information you provide for your articles. I’ll bookmark your blog and check once more right here regularly. I am reasonably sure I will be told plenty of new stuff right right here! Best of luck for the following!

I just like the valuable information you provide for your articles. I’ll bookmark your blog and check once more right here regularly. I am reasonably sure I will be told plenty of new stuff right right here! Best of luck for the following!

"The fear was that the very democratic freedoms that had given the Brotherhood its chance could not be guaranteed under the rule of a party that ultimately believes that it gets its instructions and authority from God — not the voters."

"Western commentators have long predicted that a rising Chinese middle class would demand democracy. But, in fact, many affluent Chinese seem to fear that “chaos” would be unleashed if the peasantry were given an equal voice in the running of the country."

We have not heard from you for a very long time. Hope everything is fine with you. As we have found your comments and contributions to be very robust and logical, we hope that you can continue to contribute your most insightful thoughts in your blog. Thank you and hoping to hear from you again.

Keep writing. Not for today. But for the future. It's important. Lest you have joined the rank of the soulless Singaporeans who have allowed the dry double- edged policies to take you over. Before a principal friend retired from the civil service, he told everyone that they have to be careful whether to confer blind trust to the government's policies.

Hey Sin easily impressed by old man and licking fat carrot stick for a living journalists...did you check out the meaning of "cabal" before you regurgitated( goes to show you don't need brains to be a journalist) his words?

But then since you are under the spell of medals, accolades, academia achievements etc.. We don't think you are capable of thinking

"A cabal is a group of people which meets for the purpose of plotting something which is typically illegal or simply evil. Cabals have obviously been a part of human society for thousands of years, working behind the scenes to perform various political and social intrigues, ranging from assassinations to insider trading. As a general rule, when a cabal is outed, the results are catastrophic, as members struggle to conceal their involvement and the goals of their organization."

"Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s — that surely can be a basis for cooperative co-existence. The appointment of bishops in China is not an insurmountable problem from the viewpoint of Communist and Catholic dogma.

In the 16th century, the great Jesuit Matteo Ricci researched deep into Chinese philosophy before deciding on the proper translation for “God”.

For the Chinese, all existence is thought of as what is under Heaven. The emperor was the Son of Heaven, reigning over all human affairs. Ricci decided that God should therefore be properly translated as the “Lord of Heaven”, in a sphere which posed no political threat to anybody.

For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes(ground shaking) in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

I just like the valuable information you provide for your article. I’ll bookmark your blog and check once more right here regularly. I am reasonably sure I will be told plenty of new stuff right right here! Best of luck for the following!

Meritocracy is producing too many fukking idiots in Sin. Too many over rated graduates walking around thinking they are Phoenix from heaven when they are actually state certified pig brains and egos. Lost count on how many we have met on a daily basis.

"In Singapore, the danger is not so much about opposing media channels catering to a polarized audience, but about how the online world is perceived to be the only space where Singaporeans can be openly and robustly critical about the Government. Both offline and online echo chambers risk polarising the public into opposing groups simply because of the difference in amount of space they allow for criticism.

When leaders use particular channels to mobilise their supporters, it can result in extremist mass polarisation. Each group deems itself as the righteous one, while demonising the opposing camp. This leads to distrust, suspicion and animosity. Violence is not too far away.

An enlightened democracy calls for the masses to make educated choices for their political leaders. Yet, it also calls for public leaders to be prudent in their choices of words and actions, so that they will not divide the masses and alienate the people. As Singaporean politics matures over the next few years, we need to be mindful of the slippery slope of mass polarization.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Elvin Ong is a graduate of Singapore Management University and conducted research on mass polarization for his Masters thesis at the University of Oxford. He will embark on his Political Science PhD studies in Fall 2013 at Emory University."

Me concurs that extreme polarization will lead to conflict between opposing camps.However, no violence will ever happen in Sg even if extreme polarization happens here.Singaporeans are docile people and mostly treasure peace.

What do yo get when stupid people engage NATIONAL CONVERSATION with stupid leaders( who take great pride in their formal education)?Twice the stupidity! What emerges from the NATURAL process of stupidity is a chief idiot who thinks his brilliance will resolve the world's problems( if not, why buy his books and our elites follow his lead?) But alas, his vision(and all such leaders) is based on "how the world works" and NOT "how the world should not".

My friend FIL was sent to nursing home in jb. The list was given by IMH as his mental condition not v stable. I'm not sure y the placing in SG nursing doesn't work. the FIL will prob die in the nursing home. In a foreign country. Why is the govt treating our aged population this way? Jus becos they are poor n helpless they don't deserved anything?? They are the one that contribute a lot in building our country success... Sigh..

Onlooker:Lucky I had not post in your blog for a while now due to an agreement to not interfere with local politic with a friend. but now I have to post something because of some unfortunate turn of event.I have a proposal to help opposition to win jurong grc in the coming election.he will post more when when i am back in Singapore as I'm currently overseas.Basically,it's based on the byelection that did not occur when one of the mp died a few year back.

"When you’re very structured almost like a religion… Uniforms, uniforms, uniforms… everybody is the same. Look at structured societies like Singapore where bad behavior isn’t tolerated. You are extremely punished."

The only thing Singaporeans( educated idiots) are good at is ...censoring(legal minded).

A lot of local sales people...especially from Harvey Norman, Best Denki, Gain City...know nuts about their products.....and will even lie through their teeth to make up for their lack and incompetence....hire Singaporeans or Singaporeans first?

Please...cant even talk poperlee and so DISHONEST...Singaporeans first?

Nicholas Mak, executive director at SLP International, said, “And if our population is not increasing at that very high rate, what we could see is that rental rates could be depressed. And this will in turn lead to even slower price growth, and even stagnate the rate of price increase totally.”

Sin's economy and "social programs" are basically fueled by the housing market.

They is something very wrong with the way they milk housing. This EC thing is driving up prices for sure and destroying kampong spirit. Think. There is a reason why ancient writings made special reference to "housing"!

The downfall of this stupid nation must be due to their stupid women. Can write a whole book on lawlessness and sell it to the public. Who runs this place anyway!? Idiotic democratic English writers? HaHa

I think the government is threatening Christianity(one of many religion) for threatening the government. According to Christian teachings, all who deny Christ will be burned in hell. Come Armageddon, Christ and his warriors will war against all ant christs.

Oh,btw...

Proclaiming war against the Government actually contravene the penal code, and the possible penalty is DEATH, said one snake.

So...you opposition who "war" against the government....be prepared to be KILLED and even your family(all your lovely children) maybe annihilated.

“On the Selection of Good Leaders in a Political Meritocracy” by Daniel Bell (24 Oct)Oct 15th, 2013 by nickcai. Comments are off for this postIn this talk, I will assume that (1) it is good for a political community to be governed by high-quality rulers; (2) China’s one party political system is not about to collapse; (3) the meritocratic aspect of the system is partly good; and (4) it can be improved. On the basis of these assumptions, I will put forward suggestions about which qualities matter most for political leaders in the context of large, peaceful, and modernizing (non-democratic) meritocratic states, followed by suggestions about mechanisms that increase the likelihood of selecting leaders with such qualities. I will use the philosophical theory about the best possible political meritocracy in the context of a large, peaceful, and modernizing state as a standard for evaluating China’s actually-existing meritocratic system. I will argue that China can and should improve its meritocratic system: it needs exams that more effectively test for politically relevant intellectual abilities, more women in leadership positions to increase the likelihood that leaders have the social skills required of effective policy-making, and more systematic use of a peer review system to promote political officials motivated by the desire to serve the public.

By the time collecting CPF at 70 years how much CPF is left nobody know. The returning of CPF might be raise higher depend on the availablity of fund at that moment?

What about inflation, will the inflation eat into the CPF we have when we are able to collect at 70, as they might adjust the age again? Will the inflation rate higher then the interest given by the CPF?

The more equitable idea is to let those who know how to invest get back their CPF as it was promised to return then at 55 years old? If they had proven to make consistent returns?

There will some old men likely to spent all their CPF, but there are those who are able to manage well their CPF should return their CPF as promised at 55, as they are likely to make better returns then the 4 percent, let them enjoy the benefit of managing their own money and get higher returns, which is good for the economy?

The original returning the CPF to the person at 55 which promised is a good idea. Worried about old people mismanaged their funds is not unfound? But how about those persons who can managed their money well, should there be a mechanism allow them to withdraw their money at 55 as promised, any ideas?

Why keep the money of those who can manage their money better? Why not let those persons who are able to manage their money get a better returns from their funds?

Can pay themselves many times of Nordic countries ministers pay, should be able to pay back people money at 55 as originally promised, we are the richest countries or one of the richest, why can't keep the promised of paying at 55, with $300 billions reserves, last time can pay people at 55 hard earn money CPF now can't? What do you think?

In the US, you can take a hardship loan against your retirement. You must pay back with interest so that your retirement fund is not depleted. This sounds like a reasonable alternative. You can't have people taking money out whenever they want, it would make it too difficult to plan for how to invest the CPF portfolio.

He said that the anonymity of the online space makes it easy for healthy debate and discussion to degenerate into abuse and hate-mongering.

"In Singapore, we see much constructive engagement online, but also no lack of trolling. We must fight back against such trolling, and provide a safe and responsible online space, which promotes constructive participation,” said Mr Lee.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

In other words, the gov doesnt want you to SCOLD(term as abusive) them and always speak calmly, politely and constructively which leads to ...CIVIL DISGREEMENT ( what can you do when the few elites insist on their corrupt ways?)

You are not allowed to display acute anger though part of your humanity(term as abusive).

All kuai like little children talk and discuss like ROBOTS(emotionless)!

And most importantly, NO ANGER NO RIOTS(term as abusive)

Bow out ...peacefully, if you disagree with absolute power!( now why don't dictators try that with their people? They need to hire better LAWYERS in their team!)

Professor Balding from HK wrote a recent scathing article on the low interest rate earns by CPF holders - we only manage to receive a measly 2.5% interest on our ordinary account whereas the retirement special account picks up a decent 4%.

Prof Balding wrote how Temasek Holdings use our CPF money to invest attracting investment returns of 15% and above so what the board gives to us at 2.5% is really peanuts. All investment however carries risk and the government justifies its decision not to allow CPF money to be used exclusively for investment purposes in case the whole fund goes bust during a bad down-turn.

How it is decided, why it was decided, how is the process decided to lock up people CPF which is big difference to those who had collected their CPF and those who did not, kindly let us know. This the most important asset which many people take many years to save?

Is it put inside people bank better then lock up forever for some reasons other then they know themselves, which might change the monthly payment/retirement age from 60 to 63 to 65 to 68, may change to 70 to 73 depend on circumstances nobody know?

So many of those who live before 70 no chance to see their CPF, working a lifetime to accumulate, in the future?

Should they think of cutting down their incredibly high pay to that level of the Scandinavia countries, which their ministers only got around $200,000 per year and they have been incredibly successful even with these very reasonably pay?

They have good reasons to get they incredibly pay , pensions and 8 months of bonus why not cut it down, to return people CPF at 55 since Singapore is one of the richest nation with one of the highest GND and hundreds of billions of reserves as claimed?

Pay themselves comparably to the Nordic nations ministers pay, so that CPF can be returned to people at 55 as previously many had gotten their CPF and very happy?

Sweden Prime Minister's salaries: http://www.ask.com/wiki/Prime_Minister_of_SwedenThe Prime Minister of Sweden one of the most well run and innovative countries, that rarely import people to boost the ecomony?

1824000 Swedish Krona equals346944.86 Singapore Dollar

Ministers'incredible pensions schemes after some protest, since then had been changed to CPF?http://bonjourplanetearth.blogspot.sg/2011/05/highly-paid-singapore-ministers-get.html

Swedish PM with a annual salary of around $350K is a much well run country with generous welfare and jobless benefits. One of the highest standard of living and much innovative country?

Should they reverse or return people blood, sweat & tears savings(CPF) at 55 as many had received previously, before the policy was revised? Should they reduce their salaries to that of the Scandinavia ministers' level which is more affordable?

ASK ME:November 26, 2013 at 6:46 pm (Quote)A Finnish Lady Told me in Finland Ministers and ordinary folks the pay between them is very very small.People serves in govt because they love the country not money

In Sin, the Leaders just choose to have a system different from the Finland System.Sinkies, or at least 60% of them sanctioned the SystemMind You huh, the Sin Government does not rob or hold the Citizens at gun point hor.

Singaporean sleeping in the Streets:https://www.google.com.sg/search?q=homeless+in+singapore&client=firefox-a&hs=01G&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=caeVUpbVEoGIrQezsIGgDg&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=960&bih=630

Will the lock up of CPF causes many talent younger Singaporean or those who have lots of CPF to emigrate, left behind those poorer Singaporean not so talented, which need welfare as a result deteriorately situations?

Could the CPF lock up scheme causes many well educated and talented Singaporean to emigrate to other countries causes serious brain drain?

With this group of high education and well trained Singaporean, they are highly sought after by foreign countries, foreign countries are happy to welcome them to emigrate and take out their CPF, so they don't to spend tax payer money to train them and can get a group of highly educated with their CPF and savings to come to their countries to contribute to their economy?

International legal opinion supports the advancement of the law in respect of public comment. In 2012, the UK Law Commission recommended abolishing the offence of “scandalising the judiciary” because it is “an infringement of freedom of expression and out of step with social attitudes”. The Commission noted that the offence “belongs to an era when deferential respect to the judiciary was the norm. But social attitudes have changed. Enforcing the offence today would do little to reinforce respect for the judiciary and, if judges are thought to be using it to protect their own, could strengthen any existing distrust or disrespect.”

Are judges beyond reproach? You shit like any other criminal or priest. You are as human as a rubbish collector or a janitor.

Why the special "protection order"? Because your judgment is infallible? Or because you are a spoilt little brat?

He added that Singapore's position is not to comment on intelligence matters."Even when the allegations are untrue, we never come out to deny them because you cannot, on intelligence matters, come out and say this is true, or this is untrue, or this is five per cent true, that is 95 per cent false," said Mr Shanmugam.

@@@@#@#

If so, why do you demand accountability from people or citizens who use their intelligence against you(including false allegations)?

Ah.. hypocrites(unjust and corrupt ). .. talk like a typical legal snake. .. People are easy to bully right?